Of Two Different Worlds

[Trusted Grader]

Her recent war efforts had afforded the rank up of Bannin, a title she was highly proud of as it meant that the scoundrel was no longer a force her clan could scoff at, she was now at the rank where they had to respect her, which meant that her goal of changing the clan from within was starting to reach her grasp. But first she would need to learn what it truly meant to be a Bannin, the rank only a few had ever reached, who else should she talk to other than one of the oldest now that Hibeki and Ken had perished.

The trade had been heavy, 2 Bannins and her pet for the lives of 4 Konoha nins, one being their Hokage, Amaya had mostly zoned out when it came to the rest of the details as she had been a bit lost once she found out her companion had died. That was until today, the wallowing had to stop, training could no longer sustain her, knowledge would have to fill that void.

Her once lively apartment was left silent, Ran who often took care of Wana promised to help her find a new pet, a replacement, one he hoped would still her mind. They greeted each other goodbye and away she soared. Flying through the air, she Shoshiki prodigy used the last bit of intel she had on Oushi to try to locate him, it was easier said than done now that she lacked her tracking animal.

But find him she would, for if she couldn't find a legendary Bannin within the borders of Rock Country, then could she really be trusted with the rank of Bannin?

[Punslinger]

Where in Rock Country was Sekitan Oushi? At that exact moment, breaching the surface of Lake Notoro like an orca, a massive, serpentine taimen in his mouth as he paddled for shore like the world's ugliest water dog to the jubilant cheers of a dozen children.

"HOO HOO HOO HOO." he trumpeted through clenched teeth as he moved through the water fast enough to leave a wake, building up enough speed that his horizontal slide up onto the shore brought a small wave with it even as he clambered to his hands and knees to drag his catch haphazardly further on land, then smack it uphill as the creature tried to slither back into the water with preternatural alacrity before several children fell upon it like starving wolves.

"And that kids, is why Manabu is a huge nerd and owes me money. Everybody pay up." he flopped back on his haunches and watched with cartoonishly smug features as a trickle of small coins, shiny rocks and dried berries piled into his hand. It wasn't about money, and the orphanage madam would see to it that all this and more was put to good use after his visit this evening. No, the important part was teaching the little hellions that talking smack had consequences... and that owning up to the consequences of their convictions might result in a luscious monster trout dinner. Carrot and stick, absolute genius really.

That, and he genuinely wasn't sure he'd be able to do it. Fast on land is not fast in air or water, and taimen were fast even when they were just small fries the size of a finger. At several dozens of years old, they began a series of peculiar metamorphoses that turned them into something more eel-like, aggressive, and by all accounts delicious for the mad fisherman willing to brave their lines and nets for a fight to the potential death. Not that it mattered now that it was on land, as a bevy of clever little hands brandished hunting knives and began making short work of the beast, smaller children quickly being sent to gather wood for a fire as their elders flung offal into the lake in thanks for the sacrifice. Apparently this fish wouldn't be making it home for dinner in one piece.

A few stole furtive glances at Oushi as he steamed on the ground like a giant kettle, slowly drying off before getting dressed with a little help from a ninpoujutsu. His overly dramatic scowl earned him a few cheeky sneers in return and he began owlishly counting up his hard earned gains, snacking on a few of the wolfberries with deeply affected relish.

"Mmm, what a shame, what a shame. This would go so good with some yak butter and parsley... What a shame there's never any around this time of year." now wise to his games, one of the little gatherers scurried over and began pawing through the pockets of his jacket on the ground eagerly, only to nearly stumble over the parchment wrapped packages that appeared behind her on the ground, gleefully scooping them up and running over to the others as they huddled over the smoky beginnings of a fire.

This is what it meant to wield godlike power. Not war, not war for peace, just helping when you can, because you can.

And maybe getting a nice lakeside trout dinner to go with your rice wine and pickled veggies. Demigods don't work for free.

[Trusted Grader]

The biting cold was something she had grown used to, though the killer wind still managed to seep through her clothing. A grunt escaped her breath, she never liked flying low but in order to survive the oncoming frostbite, she would be forced to. The warm upstreams alliviated a lot of the stress that had built up in her body, besides, the view was better from a lower flying point, yet it exposed her which was the opposite of what she had planned.

Amaya wasn't the one for stealth but whenever she was out and about she tended to fly above the clouds, Hopefully with the expansion we can start working on creating a more diverse biome... I should probably bring that up to the Kage. Amaya had plans, but in order for them to grow into fruition she would have to become steady in her new job describtion first.

Oushi, he was bannin when I was but a chuunin, yet he has been missing for the last part... Reports indicates that he returned shortly after I woke from my coma, yet that doesn't explain why he was absent from the war. I am pretty certain that a man in his calibre should've been on the roll call before me. Amaya narrowed her eyes as she came up to a lake, the last piece of information told her that he would be around lake Notoro, the man was notorious for being hard to find when he didn't want to be.

She was hoping that things would go smoothly, but only time would tell. The flying butterfly would circle the lake until she would find him, or at least that was the original idea before a massive black spot appeared at the center of the lake, catching the Shoshiki's attention. I almost died the last time something appeared at the center of a lake. Amayas eyes darted from the lake over to the edges of the lake, she could see a small gathering from the angle she was flying at.

"There is something massive inside the lake!! Stay away from the-" A massive tentacle spawned out of the icy lake, it wrapped around Amaya who managed to reshape her wings into a bubble before being dragged down, hopefully the mighty Oushi managed to heed her warning before she got dunked in the water.

---

MetaShow

Garaton • Hishou Garasu Tsubasa [Glass Release • Flying Glass Wings]
A-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing a set of hand seals Amaya will focus on making glass near her hot, then focusing on moving the glass to her back. On the back, the glass shapes into a glass version of butterfly wings, the top wings are two meter long while the lower wings are one meter long. These wings are able to flap and are strong enough to make Amaya fly. Can only fly up to 60 meters in battles but higher outside of battlefields. She can only fly as fast as her speed allows.

[Vitreokinesis]
A-rank Ninjutsu
Having achieved notable mastery over Garaton, the user is capable of shaping, directing, and manipulating existing bodies of the element without the need of hand seals or an existing technique. The range at which the user can manipulate the element is equal to the user's [Control x 2m]. While the user can freely manipulate this element, they cannot produce the element naturally.

[Punslinger]

The water at the lake's edge had been churning with starving taimen gorging themselves on their kin's offal and driven mad by the congregation. The sight was a perpetual source of amusement for Oushi, terrifying maneaters all clambering over themselves like fat coi in a noble's pond. The clamor was almost enough to drown out a shout from above, the sound's direction more so than its content or volume being what drew his attention most; after all, flight meant shinobi and shinobi meant trouble.

Trouble that he barely had time to register before a tree trunk tentacle shot out of the water, snatching the figure right out of the sky, and the color drained from the big shinobi's face as he realized that it was no tentacle. It was a barbel. In the heart of the country, rumors that a powerful lake monster with tentacles had been terrorizing the local villages off and on for years, only appearing in spurts and often to attack other large megafauna. The villagers, led by the various shinobi, had been trying to capture the beast, but to no avail. Assuming this was one such foolhardy hunter, Oushi didn't dare assume they had the situation in hand and almost groaned aloud as he rocked up onto the balls of his feet and assumed a sprinter's stance at the water's edge.

"GO TO THE ORPHANAGE, TELL EVERYONE TO STAY CLEAR OF THE LAKE." he bellowed behind him. Exposed as it was, it was easy to see as a metallic sheen coated his skin thoroughly enough to cause his various tattoos to disappear, but the sight was only on display for a moment before the ground beneath him and the surface of the lake exploded, Oushi launching himself into the depths so powerfully that soil began to rain down. In the split second he spent beneath the water, the massive form rolled out like a landscape beneath him, leaving zero doubt as to what this might be. Drawn by the spawning taimen and the promise of an easy meal, Lake Notoro had its very own Namazu, monstrous catfish.

Carrying the name of the elder spirit believed to be their progenitor, the creatures were at one point thought to be myth, with few bodies of water large enough to contain one as they could often grow to several miles in length with the right nutrients. Nutrients that the spirit animal riddled north had in spades. Oushi only had a moment to see, but it was clear that this one was no juvenile, multiple barbels whipping around it through the water to carry taimen and anything else moving toward its gaping maw. Legend had it that they had been worshipped as gods, no doubt to prevent their activity in regions where they had been said to cause actual earthquakes and landslides with their displeasure. That could only mean one thing: these yokai had access to doton chakra.

And just like that it was too late to bother thinking anymore because his trajectory had been accurate and his momentum was completely unstoppable, a human metal slug lancing through the water fast enough to cause a gargantuan cavitation bubble to begin forming behind him. Leveling both his fists forward the bannin braced himself, aiming for the broadside of the living landmass.

The surface of the lake bulged perilously, swelling dozens of feet before erupting with the full fury of the impact, the shockwave blessedly aimed mostly up and outward by the lake's topography but several nearby trees were leveled by the surging waters and wind, a tempest spawning on the spot as the displaced mass fled the scene around Oushi and his prey. He didn't dare assume this was enough, years in the spirit realms having honed his sense of urgency to a fine point. Gone was the gangly young pacifist of of his childhood and in its place was a veteran of a thousand battles, one who had crossed fists with gods and found his efforts not lacking. The fight might not be over, but it was already determined. The question was how fast Oushi could put the thing down before it caused more damage to the area, or eat the poor flapping idiot still wrapped in its clutch.

[Trusted Grader]

It was unclear what had captured Amaya, what she knew was that something had wrapped itself around her glass bubble, fortunately it wasn't strong enough to crack it which gave her plenty of time to figure out a plan. Due to the darkness and being dragged further down underneath, stress was rising. Allright think, what is the correct protocol? Do I attemp to kill this massive beast or do I leave it to survive another-

Amaya's train of thought was stopped as she heard something plunge into the water, her love for animals got the better of her, or at least that was the excuse she used after the death of her hyena. Her hands touched the glass as she added another layer, laminating it in case something drastic happened, for she didn't want to get wet due to the lowered temperature.

From what she could tell, the absolute madman that dove into the water and tackled the beast was none other than Oushi, he had dared enter the beasts territory without the use of a jutsu in order to rescue Amaya, not that she really needed it but she wasn't going to complain, nor stop him. The hard crash rocked her loose, and gave her enough time to move the glass towards Oushi, she would press her hand against it and create another bubble that would wrap itself around Oushi and provide him with air.

She knew that the bannin would be good without it but the cover it would provide him with cover from the beasts counter attack, she would peer over and nod at him as she then created a large circular saw that rounded both of their bubbles, she then moved her arms around as the blade began to spin at a massive speed, displacing a lot of water.

They couldn't communicate for now but it was clear that they were going to have to work together in order to take this beast down, if not, she would allow Oushi to deal with it on his own as she wasn't particularly interested in killing it, rather she wanted to learn from him.

[Punslinger]

Oushi quite literally floundered as he struggled to right himself in the deepened gloom and clouds of roiling bubbles. This had been the issue with hunting the taimen, his strength was almost entirely wasted in an environment where his movements were almost as smooth as they were in open air, but with half the visibility. He hadn't exactly bounced off the creature, but it was like beating a melon in a leather satchel, the tough hide making a clean strike more difficult and the shinobi inwardly fumed that he hadn't chosen a more appropriate method of dealing damage, like a blade or spike. Beneath him lay the namazu, its scales as black as coal and its eyes glowing with an eerie light that was now thoroughly trained on him. There was no doubt this was the beast had been terrorizing the region, its tendrils lashing out at him in immediate response.

He took a deep mental breath and focused his chakra, his steel body humming with power. This was no mere megafauna, a creature of both spirit and flesh as old as the mountains themselves and he would need a clear, clean strike somewhere vital to actually do something worth calling damage to the giant landmass that constituted its body. He almost didn't notice the movement off to his left, almost attacking reflexively before he realized the 'attack' wasn't a tendril but an expanding sphere of glass. Wait, moving, molten glass? A Shoshiki had been hunting this thing? Well maybe they didn't need help. He watched with polite interest as the orb formed around him, vacuating itself of liquid and casually forming a whirling halo of blades that swatted at the namazu's barbels as the creature continued its sullen onslaught. For the first time he got a look at his new acquaintance, certainly a specimen of her clan as she gestured uselessly. He chuckled, waving back as the dim light glinted off of his now coppery hued carapace.

Still, she'd done him a genuine favor: the bubble provided an excellent foothold for a second potent charge, and the glowing eyes of the spirit beast gave him an excellent target. He grinned, a predator showing teeth as he took an unorthodox sprinter's stance with his feet planted firmly against the back of the bubble for a silent moment... before the water exploded again, and only the cavitation trail could track his movements as the bannin hurled himself bodily once more. But he had learned from their first exchange, and now his fist was a domineering looking lance almost as long as he was, aimed right at those luminous, glaring eyes.

The namazu, sensing Oushi's approach, turned to face him, its massive mouth open wide to revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, each a dozen feet long but still looking comically small in the gaping void of its jaws. The shinobi had no need to dodge the creature's attacks but Namazu was relentless, striking again and again with its powerful barbels. Oushi countered with raw momentum, using the weight of his strength and body to keep his course correct as he ricocheted between blows to conserve his speed and rocketed directly into the eye of the beast, causing the water to roil a third and final time as the monster flailed in undisguised panic.

As the seconds wore on, the water around the namazu continued churn, creating massive waves and whirlpools with its movements. The sound of dull, powerful impacts echoed through the depths as Oushi summoned all his strength to deliver blow after crushing blow to the ponderously huge plate of the beast's skull. The creature let out a deafening roar as it tried uselessly to defend itself, digging at the cavity with its appendages but it was too little too late, and with one final, sickening crunch that echoed across the lake floor, Namazu lay motionless in the slowly settling murk.

[Trusted Grader]

Least to say the Shoshiki was impressed by the mans physique, not only was he fast enought to almost become a blur to her, luckily the rescent trainings had allowed her to catch the movments of not only him but the beast they were facing. Her glass circles and chakram was keeping the beast back, but what truly impressed her was that the man before her chose to use it as a makeshift platform to push towards their enemy.

Another hit smashed the beast and gave them breathing space, Amaya nodded and began moving the smashed glass and placing them under his feet to allow him to continiously push off and attack the beast without quesiton. She was used to being back up to weaker people so to finally be assisting someone that was as impressive as her if not more was a breath of fresh air—ironic I know.

Amaya would then send the giant spinning chakram towards the beast and attempt to slice its head off, though thanks to its thick hide she could only cut the outside of it's scales. I did not expect this beast to be this dangerous! Amaya usually didn't underestimate her foes but to think that someone in her calibre could only do so little damage showed how unprepared she had been in this situation, she usually studied her enemies before she went out for them and seeing as she hadn't really been around these parts it sent a clear message, follow Oushi's lead.

She instead focused on splitting the chakram up to tiny pieces and place them under Oushi's feet right as he killed the beast, she raised her hands up and slowly elevated the both of them out of the water. Amaya then opened her glass bubble as if it was a springing flower and stepped forwards to finally greet the legendary bannin.

"Please forgive me for the inconvinience, my name is Shoshiki, Amaya. It is a please to met you." The newly ranked bannin bowed.

[Punslinger]

"No, no. No trouble at-... okay a little trouble. That could've been a lot worse."

Oushi stood as the pair levitated above the churning waters, confirming with his eyes that the shoreline had cleared and confirming with his bare foot that the surface he stood on was indeed solid, making a heavy, clinking thud with a few taps.

In the distance, the village alarm was sounding, heavy wood on a large wooden box that echoed a surprisingly melodious THONK THONK THONK he could only appreciate now that the danger was largely past. The children would probably have forgotten all about their meal, the poor things, but it was a cheap price to pay for their lives. The real chaos would come when spiritual beasts and spirits from all parts of the area were drawn to this thing's corpse. Then the village would have its work cut out, driving off the odd scavenger too weak to take advantage of the feast but unwilling to leave empty handed. He'd have to ask someone to impose a curfew in the coming weeks, just in case. Worse, this would hurt the fishing season as well, the already monstrous taimen in the lake growing even more active and territorial while all this was going on, to say nothing of the low but still possible chance of one of them advancing even further to become a true spiritual beast in its own right. He shook his head.

If ignorance was bliss, then knowledge was truly suffering. He turned to look at his new acquaintance, politely ignoring the fact that she was getting more than her fair share of a look at him, stripped to his fundoshi and still soaking wet. She was younger than he'd thought on first impression, but not too young to be a jounin, and clearly in the prime of her power if she was casually floating around in the sky like this. Still, better to start the conversation than let the moment grow awkward.

"So you were glass clan, huh. I'm glad you're at least this strong if you've been hunting that thing, but did they really only send one of you? Namazu are basically a natural disaster with an attitude. Even I would've had trouble landing a solid hit on it if you hadn't been around. Much obliged, by the way. "

[Trusted Grader]

Amaya didn't know the lake as well as Oushi, or what the death of this being could lead to, no, the glass master was a master of the air and ground, not water, so she knew little of these environments, so she listened to the man for if anyone knew something it would probably be him. "Yes, but I wasn't sent here to deal with the creature, that was an accidental happenstance. You don't have to thank me, a legendary Bannin such as yourself..." She trailed off a bit before her eyes landed on his feet as she bowed.

"I have been sent here to message you about the upcoming phase of the war, we are having a meeting before the invasion begins and you have been invited. Normally they wouldn't have sent me but I insisted on it." She straightened her back and looked him in the eyes. "I chose this mission because I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to train me in the arts of Taijutsu, as a newly ranked Bannin I need to become better at defending my weak spots at all costs." Another bow was performed as she took a moment to let the question sit.

Amaya doesn't have a thing for men but seeing such a physical specimen in a fundoshi got her to blush a little, luckily since she controlled the floating barriers she could separate them a little as she steered them toward the village, five glass shards would pop out of her front pouch and move towards the deceased beast, enlarged and pierce it, the beast was heavy but nothing her glass mastery couldn't handle. A rumble would occur as the Taimen's corpse would be lifted by the five massive stakes, it seems that the village would be able to eat for a while if this thing was edible, speaking of. "That thing is edible right?" Amaya didn't look back at the beast for her eyes were settled on the village, on the future.